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The British Columbia/Washington State Partnership on Enhanced…
Tags: borders, columbia washington, democracy and development, economic region, entering the united states, governor chris gregoire, premier gordon campbell, private sector leaders, province of british columbia, public private partnership, relative strength, similarity, state governments, state of washington, transportation links, valid passport, washington state partnership, western hemisphere travel, western hemisphere travel initiative, whti,Pages: 4
Language: english
Created: Thu Mar 6 07:12:43 2008
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The British Columbia/Washington State
Partnership on Enhanced Driver's Licences
by Governor Chris Gregoire and Premier Gordon Campbell
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative originally adopted in 2004 is a US policy
requiring everyone entering or re-entering the United States to present a valid
passport or other secure identity document. This article outlines steps taken by the
province of British Columbia and the state of Washington to implement provisions of
the WHTI by use of specially designed enhanced drivers license thereby facilitating
trade and other relations between these neighbouring jurisdictions.
he United States and Canada are longstanding These relationships help us identify and respond to
T allies and friends. We share social and cultural ties,
transportation links, cultural references and
ecosystems. Our countries have developed side by side,
common concerns and take advantage of common op-
portunities.
Both British Columbia and Washington are strong
along similar but unique paths: two experiments in supporters of and active participants in the Pacific
democracy and development unlike any other two NorthWest Economic Region. This bi-national, multilat-
nations on earth. eral public-private partnership brings together legisla-
The similarity in the relative strength and influence of tors, private sector leaders and communities from the
our provincial and state governments also contributes to region to discuss how we can work together on shared
the opportunity for unique relations when we have the priorities, such as open and secure borders, economic de-
vision to seize them. Relations that between British Co- velopment, energy, environment, and trade. Member ju-
lumbia and the State of Washington have never been risdictions also include Alberta, Yukon, Alaska, Idaho,
stronger. Montana, and Oregon.
British Columbia and Washington share a combined The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region's 2008 an-
population of 10 million people, a GDP of almost $450 nual summit will take place in Vancouver, July 20-24.
billion, and approximately $10 billion in bilateral trade. This occasion will showcase British Columbia and high-
We also share close personal and family ties, with social light top international priorities of jurisdictions in this re-
and business connections that travel regularly across the gion, including how we can strengthen security at the
border. Canada-US border while ensuring smooth and open le-
Our governments have taken this close connection gitimate travel and trade; the challenges of labour mobil-
even further, and since 2005, Washington and British Co- ity across borders in the face of aging workforces; the
lumbia have worked to forge what is arguably the most region's role as gateway to the Asia Pacific, not only for
successful formalized cross-border partnership network North America, but also for western Europe; and the im-
in North America, both multilateral and bilateral, with perative of action on climate change, as climate change
partners across our borders. and greenhouse gas emissions respect no border.
Through our involvement in the PNWER, Washington
and British Columbia have successfully pursued priori-
ties and achieved actionable results that span borders,
build partnerships, and have driven national agen-
Chris Gregoire is Governor of the State of Washington. Gordon
Campbell is Premier of the province of British Columbia.
2 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW/SPRING 2008
das--particularly to help support borders that are se- contributing to a general thickening of the border that
cure, but open to legitimate travel and trade. threatens to constrict trade, development and the growth
Washington and British Columbia have also estab- of regional economies.
lished an important bilateral partnership through High With only an estimated 23 per cent of Americans and
Level Dialogues between the Governor and Premier and perhaps 55 per cent of Canadians holding passports,
senior cabinet members. Over the past two years, our tourism and cross border travel was already down be-
governments have reached agreements to collaborate to cause of confusion surrounding passport requirements.
take action on climate change and Pacific Ocean conser- Given the deep cultural ties, trade and tourism between
vation, to cap and significantly reduce greenhouse gas Washington and British Columbia, we saw the need to
emissions, and collaborate on the innovation and imple- create a boarder crossing card that met federal security
mentation of clean technologies. We have improved pas- requirements specified by WHTI, but was more cost ef-
senger rail service between Vancouver, Washington, and fective for families than a passport. We felt this was espe-
Vancouver, B.C. And we are cooperating on border secu- cially important in light of the upcoming 2009 World
rity and cross-border transportation, and are working to Police and Fire Games in Washington and the 2010
improve the marketing and physical infrastructure at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver,
border for the NEXUS and FAST programs. B.C.
The Peace Arch border crossing, between Surrey, B.C.,
We have jointly conceived, developed and Blaine, Washington, is among the busiest bor-
and implemented Enhanced Driver's der-crossings between Canada and the U.S. More than
32,000 vehicles pass cross the B.C.-Washington border
Licences as a valid alternative to every day, and more than 1.3 million trucks cross the
passports at land and sea border B.C.-U.S. border each year. Moreover, a recent survey of
crossings, which both our B.C. and Washington truckers estimates border crossing
jurisdictions formally launched the congestion costs operators $60 million a year.
week of January 21, 2008. In October, 2005, B.C. and Washington signed a Mem-
orandum of Understanding to enhance trade opportuni-
The Enhanced Driver's Licence project is not only an ties and create stronger ties between the two
innovative response to a significant and potentially dam- jurisdictions. The Memorandum pledged that the two
aging federal policy change, it is also a paradigm of ac- governments would work co-operatively on common
tion by sub-national jurisdictions that can drive a goals in the areas of trade, the 2010 Olympic and
national agenda through bilateral and multilateral coop- Paralympic Winter Games, the environment, tourism,
eration and advocacy. technology, education, and transportation. It also set out
our intention to meet regularly to address issues of mu-
This project was driven by the changing nature of our
tual importance.
international border; conceived in a bilateral, cross-bor-
der forum; advocated and advanced in a cross-border The first such meeting was held in June, 2006, as B.C.
partnership; and will benefit citizens by helping make and Washington held our first High Level Dialogue: a
our border more effective and efficient for them as they full-day meeting of the Premier and Governor and our
cross it. respective Cabinets. At that meeting, we co-signed a let-
ter to President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ste-
Beginning as early as January 2008, under require-
phen Harper expressing concerns about the impact of
ments established by the U.S. Department of Homeland
WHTI on cross-border tourism.
Security and Department of State, all U.S. citizens and
foreign nationals will be required to present a passport or We stated clearly that while we supported ensuring
other documents that denote identity and citizenship our border is secure from threats, B.C. and Washington
when entering the United States by land or sea. The depend on the free flow of goods and people across the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is the Ad- border and the continued uncertainty over the passport
ministration's plan to implement this mandate. requirements was already having a negative impact on
cross-border tourism. We expressed our belief there are
The potential impact of WHTI is significant. Up until
more effective ways to ensure security, and we invited
recently, to cross the border by land, a traveller only re-
both federal governments to work with us to pursue
quired an oral declaration of citizenship. Since Septem-
those options.
ber 11, 2001, however, control at the border has
tightened, constraining tourism, spontaneous travel, and Starting from this first High Level Dialogue, B.C. and
Washington have been working together on a range of is-
SPRING 2008/CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW 3
Identification (RFID) chip inside the license. RFID is a
wireless technology that retrieves data remotely.
This information technology solution allows the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Agency to electronically
scan Washington state and British Columbia driver li-
censes and identification cards when entering the U.S.
from Canada. This technology also allows border agents
to scan machine readable information on the license and
obtain instant verification of the card's authenticity and
validity.
Our two jurisdictions have also worked in tandem to
advocate with the US and Canadian federal govern-
ments through organizations such as PNWER to ad-
vance development and acceptance of the Enhanced
Driver's Licence.
The Edmonton PNWER summit in July 2006 included
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Can-
ada's Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day. Border is-
The Governor of Washington State, Chris Gregoire (l) and Premier sues and the impact of WHTI were roundly discussed
Gordon Campbell of British Columbia have taken the lead in find-
ing innovative ways to comply with the WHTI with minimal dis- and the proposal of Enhanced Driver's Licences as a po-
ruption to cross border trade and tourism. tential solution was advanced. Both federal representa-
tives returned from Edmonton to their respective
capitals with clear messaging that governments need to
sues to support secure borders open to legitimate trade
address the impact of WHTI, that PNWER jurisdictions
and travel, and it was at this meeting that the Enhanced
were pressing for action, and that two jurisdic-
Driver's Licence was first proposed as a joint initiative to
tions--British Columbia and Washington--were
address the potential impact of WHTI.
driving ahead towards a pilot project.
WHTI specifically states U.S. Canada, Mexico and Ber-
In November of that year, at the PNWER winter meet-
muda citizens must have a passport "or other secure doc-
ing, we continued our advocacy with US diplomatic staff
ument" in order to cross the border. Since most
and federal officials. The winter of 2007, as PNWER lead-
Washington and B.C. residents carry a valid driver li-
ers tour the provincial and state capitals as well as the
cense, our goal was to find a way to increase security of
federal capitals, was a further opportunity to press state
our driver licenses so they could double as boarder
governments for support and federal governments for
crossing documents.
agreement and action.
Since that first High Level Dialogue in Vancouver in
By March 2007, Washington State had signed an agree-
2006--and subsequently at the second in Seattle in
ment with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for
2007-- B.C. and Washington have collaborated on the
a project to enable the Enhanced Driver's Licence in the
development of our respective programs
state. This agreement was the decisive moment in the
We compared the Washington driver's license security pursuit of the Enhanced Driver's Licence as a potential
features with British Columbia's and discovered we both solution to border congestion. It was a clear signal the en-
referred to the American Association of Motor Vehicles Ad- hanced driver's licence was more than a concept or wish:
ministrators Security Framework as a standard to incorpo- It was a legitimate contender in a new, responsive ap-
rate in our issuance policies, card security features, proach to effective border management.
appearance and card stock.
In July 2007, at the PNWER annual summit, border is-
Working together, we developed Enhanced Driver Li- sues were again a policy priority at PNWER and both
censes to keep the British Columbia-Washington border Washington and B.C. used the forum to press for further
crossings secure, fast, and convenient for our citizens. action on Enhanced Drivers Licences and a more respon-
The Enhanced Driver's Licence is a voluntary pro- sive, citizen-centred approach to border management.
gram. For issuance, applicants bring documentation to Now, by January 2008, both BC and Washington have
their jurisdiction's licensing authority that proves their launched the first Enhanced Driver's Licence programs
citizenship, residency and identity. Each Enhanced in North America. British Columbia's pilot project was
Driver's Licence is embedded with a Radio Frequency
4 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW/SPRING 2008
over-subscribed within just over 48 hours, and Washing- that our borders should not be an impermeable, thick
ton received some 4,000 applications and had issued 400 barrier that separates and constricts our lives and our
EDLs within about one week of announcing. livelihoods, but an effective tool that addresses our mu-
This powerful public response may have surprised tual security concerns and that is responsive to our citi-
some, though both Washington and B.C. anticipated it zens, open to legitimate travel and trade.
would be welcome by a general public that is accus- Through programs like the enhanced driver's licence
tomed to seeing the border as little more than a formality and other cross-border initiatives, we are not only build-
in most cases. ing a better future for Washington and British Columbia
But the appeal of the enhanced driver's licence does families, but we are sharing our successes with other pre-
not stop in B.C. and Washington. Ontario, Quebec, Yu- miers and governors who may also choose to make their
kon and Manitoba in Canada are also working actively to state a great place to live and ensure their residents may
develop their own enhanced driver's licences. In the U.S., continue to enjoy the freedoms to which they are
Arizona, Vermont, and New York have signed agree- accustomed.
ments with the Department of Homeland Security simi- That demonstrates what border regions can achieve
lar to Washington's. when they identify mutual priorities and collaborate
This one idea, from a bilateral, cross-border meeting, across the border to achieve objectives of national impor-
advocated and developed through bilateral and multi- tance. We need to recognize the strength that is present in
lateral cross-border engagement, has spread and set an our midst, and the symbolic strength of collaborating
agenda in two nations, and driven national action. It has across borders.
also tapped into a fundamental need of our citizenry:
SPRING 2008/CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW 5